Confidence is growing that the real Daryz will be seen when he returns to action at his beloved ParisLongchamp next month.

Francis-Henri Graffard’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero has lost just the once in seven outings on the Bois de Boulogne and even then it was by just a short head in last year’s Prix du Prince d’Orange, the race he used to set up victory in Europe’s richest middle-distance contest the following month.

The son of Sea The Stars looked unstoppable on home soil when winning his first two outings this term and although momentum was checked slightly when out of sorts in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, optimism is high Daryz will be back to his best for ParisLongchamp’s traditional Arc trials day on September 6th.

Nemone Routh, French racing manager and director for owners the Aga Khan Studs, said: “He’s very well and he went on the grass for the first time since he came back from Ascot the other day and he looks great. He’s very relaxed and moving well and we’re very happy with him – he seems back in the zone.

“He had that bad blood test when he came back from Ascot and we had to treat him for that and he didn’t have time off as such, but we sort of backed off him a little to get over all that.

“The plan is to prepare him for Arc trials weekend. He’s such an exciting horse and it’s such a shame we missed that one thing going to Ascot and he didn’t quite show his true form that day.

“He wasn’t disgraced though and now back on his home turf – he just loves Longchamp – hopefully if we can keep him right until then it will be exciting to see him back on the track.”

One of the few defeats in Daryz’s illustrious career came at York 12 months ago in the Juddmonte International.

And while connections are not looking to the Knavesmire with either their Arc winner or his Japan Cup-bound stablemate Calandagan – runner-up to City Of Troy at York in the summer of 2024 – the ever-improving Zaydann is among the remaining the entries.

A grandson of the great Zarkava, the regally-bred son of Dubawi has racked up five straight victories since opening his account on his third start, grabbing Group Three success in the Grand Prix de Vichy most recently.

Routh added: “The Juddmonte International wasn’t really an objective for him but we’ve kept him in at York as we’re sort of scratching our heads where we will go with him now and we just wanted to give ourselves the option.

“He would be up against Ombudsman and Constitution River, but those sort of races can easily cut up and you could end up with a four or five-runner race with pacemakers in there.

“He’s obviously way below that level at the moment in terms of what he has done, but he’s won his last five, is incredibly well-bred and is still improving even though it is going to take a big step forward to be competitive at that level.

“We’ve given ourselves the option and haven’t ruled it out, but it wouldn’t be an objective and we’re still figuring it out.

“The obvious next race for him is on Arc weekend but you can’t wait that long and he’s a good ground horse. We could wait for something like the Grand Prix de Deauville but it’s not the perfect race for him either.

“We’re still figuring out the best route to take with him and it will probably involve a conversation with Princess Zahra to make a plan. But we wanted to keep the York option open just in case she is tempted by that more than sending him internationally or going to Deauville.”